The Cannabis Private Investment Summit West took place in Beverly Hills, CA on May 4, 2016. The event brought together the best and brightest entrepreneurs, advocates, thought leaders, and funders to elevate the cannabis industry.

"Not only is [the Colorado Cannabis Ranch] a truly epic step forward for the cannabis industry, it’s led by a guy that, despite his massive success, is really just a laid back and down to Earth dude that loves marijuana as much as you or I."

"Part business memoir, part how-to and part social commentary, "Big Weed" traces how we as a country developed our attitudes toward pot and how reactive Drug War-era laws became so hard to change. Hageseth recounts his challenges in finding investors for a business that many still consider to be no different than selling drugs on the street."

"Colorado entrepreneur Christian Hageseth, founder of Denver’s Green Man Cannabis brand, has been working on making his dream of creating the ultimate marijuana tourist destination a reality for more than a year."

"When Colorado legalized recreational marijuana last year, it opened the floodgates to $700 million in legal sales, orchestra 'weed concerts' and the world’s first pot credit union. So what would California look like if it legalized recreational marijuana use?"

"How does a Cannabis Cup-winning ganjapreneur celebrate the morning after winning two first-place trophies? By drinking his coffee and eating his Cheerios directly from the shiny, new Cannabis Cups, of course."

"Colorado legalized the use of medical marijuana in 2000 and recreational use in 2012. But as Hageseth tells Business Insider, 'We are still an unwelcome business on the federal level....It's illegal for a bank to take my money. It's just like they were taking El Chapo Guzman's money or Scarface's money. I am treated like any other drug dealer.'"

"Green Man Cannabis’s Denver South location is representative of the future direction of the industry – clean, bright, super-modern stores, with an eye towards locations that provide close proximity to weekly shopping trip stops. The store is within easy stopping distance from four different grocery stores, including Whole Foods, a Target Superstore, a Safeway, and a King Soopers (Kroger’s banner in Colorado). In fact, you can see the Whole Foods from the retail location’s parking lot."